Cursed With Luck
by Tatsurou-san
Summary: When Master Fu follows the Butterfly Miraculous to the Nerima district of Tokyo, he knows he's going to need to find special wielders for the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, ones who will be up to the task of protecting a city constantly in chaos even without Akuma. The only problem? Ladybug's not a lady half the time, and Chat Noir can never find his way there. Good luck!
1. Chapter 1

In a dark place somewhere unknown, a tiny pink creature only a few inches long with butterfly-shaped wings and a spiral on his large head stared up at a figure wreathed in shadows. "This isn't right," the tiny creature insisted. "This isn't how the Butterfly Miraculous was meant to be used!"

"But the power is there, Nooroo," someone in the shadows responded, her voice soft. "It can be used this way. And if it works…don't you see how wonderful it could be? You told me how much you hated what life had done to me…"

"But is this the only solution?" Nooroo pleaded softly. "It will hurt so many people-"

A dark chuckle interrupted the tiny glowing creature. "You've seen this place. Trust me, that's the _last_ thing it will do. Let me spin you how it will happen. Either I will succeed in luring out and claiming the Ladybug and the Black Cat and none of it will have happened once that combined power is unleashed…or I will fail each time because the Ladybug's power undoes yours, and no one will be hurt. No damage will be done."

"But turning people into Akuma…" Nooroo insisted, though his vehemence was starting to wane.

"Drawing out their darkest emotions at the moment they are the strongest," the shadowed figure corrected. "Showing everyone around them what they are doing to them. They will learn from this, interact differently with each other, and be better people because of it…or there will be no change, because tomorrow will start just like today. This is Nerima, Nooroo. Either this will actually help people…or no one will even notice that it happened the following day. No harm is done…and this is the only way to lure them out."

Nooroo stared up at the shadowed figure, then sighed sadly. "I…I still don't like it," he offered reluctantly. "Dark power like this…just because I can do it doesn't mean I should. There's a reason I wasn't meant to do this…and I'm afraid it's you who will pay the price."

"If I succeed, it won't have happened," the shadowed figure replied. "And if I fail…that price is the gamble I'm making."

Nooroo's wings slumped. "I don't want to see this destroy you…" he whispered sadly.

"I care about you too, Nooroo," the voice responded gently. "That's why I won't demand this. It's why I'm asking…will you help me?"

Nooroo stared up at the figure in the shadows…and let out one last sigh. "I'm your partner," he said softly. "What choice do I have? I'll help you."

"Then Nooroo…become my wings of night!"

Nooroo was sucked into a brooch, and light flared. When the light faded, the shadowed figure was shadowed no longer…but any resemblance to an ordinary human was gone. Her skin had gained a faint blue tint, and her hair turned black as night, billowing behind her head like a miasma, stars visible within as reflections of the swarms of white butterflies fluttering around her. A dark purple dress patterned like an insectoid carapace clung to her figure, the neckline just above what would be indecent with her shoulders and the top of her breasts left bare. A slit up one side of the dress left her long legs exposed, ending in sparkling purple high heels. Matching gloves stretched from just below her shoulders down to her fingertips. A butterfly mask in silver molded to her face before spreading wings to either side.

A wicked chuckle escaped her as she took in her appearance. "It seems Monarch Butterfly is in need of servants," she purred throatily. Lifting her hands, she gathered many of the butterflies together until they became a window, looking out onto the city of Tokyo, in the Nerima district. "Now…where is the rage, the sorrow, the envy, the greed…the need? This is Nerima, after all. I'm sure to have my pick."

* * *

Ranma Saotome was _not_ having a good day. Morning sparring with his father had ended with being knocked into the koi pond, activating his Jusenkyo curse and turning the black-haired, blue-eyed Japanese teenage boy into a red-haired, blue-eyed, Japanese teenage _girl_. This was hardly a new occurrence for him, and by now he was used to having his physical gender changed on a daily – if not hourly – basis due to the random whims of water temperature. The day didn't get really bad until he came back inside and learned that the water heater of the Tendo Dojo was broken, meaning no hot water to change back into a boy. He was going to have to spend the day as Ranko, much as he hated the idea.

Then his uncute fiancé Akane had tried to poison him with the unrecognizable sludge she called her cooking. Left with the choice of eating it and being left sick as a dog for the entire day while she wasn't punished at all, or refusing and getting yelled at by _everyone_ over it, he'd taken the sensible option and ran out of the house for school as fast as he could.

Of course, this meant that Ranma would have to deal with an angry Akane all day…not that this was unusual for the pig-tailed boy/girl. Still, she was the smallest of his problems. There would also be Ukyo – his childhood friend turned fiancé okonomiyaki chef – wanting to feed him, Shampoo – the purple haired Chinese Amazon – wanting to feed him, and several of his rivals trying to kill or kiss him depending on their mental faculties. And it _would_ happen that every single one of them – save Ryoga, who could be expected to disappear for weeks on end given his sense of direction – showed up on his way to school.

Unwilling to face all of that for the entire day, Ranma decided to do something he'd rarely even considered, let alone done…he ditched school. Hopping along rooftops, he kept his bag close to his back as he looked for somewhere he could avoid too much attention. He was already feeling guilty about ditching school, and planned to assuage his conscience by finding somewhere to plop down and study.

As he hopped along the rooftops, he noticed something that gave him pause. An old Chinese man in a Hawaiian shirt was crossing a street into traffic. While several things about the situation put the hair on the back of Ranma's neck up – an old man, a Hawaiian shirt – he found he couldn't sense anything special about the old man. There was no threat from him…but there was one to him. A truck was barreling down the road, plainly having trouble with its brakes and heading straight for the old man…who was staggering through the crosswalk at a snail's pace.

"Watch out!" Ranma called out, leaping down off the roof and dashing forward. Grabbing the old man, he dragged him across the road with no thought to his own safety or the fact he was clutching the old man to his presently female body. As the truck zoomed by, he set the old man down. "Are you alright?"

The old man smiled up with kind dark brown eyes. "I am now. Thank you, young lady. I will be more careful in the future."

Ranma smiled. "That's a good idea." With that, he turned and raced off, still seeking that quiet spot no one would think to look for him.

He didn't notice the old man staring after him with a speculative expression on his face.

* * *

Ryoga Hibiki was not having a good day. This was nothing new for 'the eternal lost boy', as he was known to some. He had what was certain to be the world's worst sense of direction, guaranteed to get him hopelessly lost at a moment's notice. For example, today the black haired boy had shouldered his massive pack and umbrella and set off in search of the bathroom, which he knew to be only one door away from his bedroom. He was currently in what he was certain was a deep forest somewhere, surely unexplored by anyone but him and hopelessly lost.

The people just outside the one-block park kept giving him odd looks as he wandered from tree to tree in search of the way out.

Finally, unwilling to keep searching fruitlessly, Ryoga sat down and dug around in his pack for his food and cooking utensils. He'd cook himself up a quick meal, that always helped raise his spirits…and invariably resulted in someone showing up, which would help him get his bearings.

Much as he'd expected, just as he finished cooking his meal and was ready to eat, an old Chinese man wearing a Hawaiian shirt hobbled up, leaning on a cane. "What are you doing cooking in this park, young man?" he asked curiously.

Ryoga blinked in surprise. "Park?" Seeing the old man pointing, he followed the line of the finger to the nearby street. "Oh, fancy that. I don't suppose you know the way to Furinkan High School?" he asked hopefully. That was always a safe place to start his search for whatever he was looking for…even if it took a few weeks to get there.

The old man shook his head. "I only just arrived here in Okinawa. I do not know this school."

"…the way to Tokyo, then?" Ryoga asked hopefully.

The old man pointed off in a specific direction. "That way."

"Thanks," Ryoga replied gratefully as he began eating.

Right at that moment, the old man's stomach rumbled. "I had best see to my own meal-"

"Here," Ryoga spoke up, pushing half the meal into another bowl and offering it to the old man.

The old man smiled at him. "My thanks," he offered warmly, happily digging in.

Once both had finished their meals, Ryoga stood up and turned to go. "Thanks for the directions, old man!" he spoke up warmly.

The old man suddenly took hold of Ryoga's pack, turning him around. "That way," he instructed firmly.

Ryoga chuckled nervously. "Thanks…" Turning, he ran off.

The old man sighed softly. The boy was good, no doubt about that. He hoped he'd picked right on this one, since he'd already slipped the box into the boy's bag. He doubted he'd ever be able to find the boy again otherwise.


	2. Chapter 2

Ranma sighed as he slipped back into the Tendo Dojo sometime before the end of school. Even slipping off to find a spot that he could study quietly in hadn't fully assuaged his conscience about ditching school, and he'd briefly made his way towards school to consider attending. However, the sight of Happosai leaping from rooftop to rooftop between the Dojo and Furinkan High had quickly put an end to _that_ train of thought, especially when he _still_ hadn't managed to find some hot water. The _last_ thing he needed today was that pervert groping him. Instead, he decided to slip quietly into the Dojo, avoid his father and Soun, grab a few more things from his pack, and go back to a quiet spot for further study. He also would grab a bit of the money he'd managed to hold onto and _not_ lose to Nabiki through one of her numerous ways of getting money out of him and grab something to eat while he was out...unless he could get something from Kasumi without her telling on him. She was normally thoughtful and kind about that, the one good point about living in Nerima as far as Ranma was concerned.

Reaching his pack, he started pulling out a few extra books and notepads for schoolwork, and then went reaching around for his hidden money pouch. Before he found it, his hand touched on a hard box he didn't remember. "Huh?" he murmured as quietly as he could, grasping the box and slowly pulling it out. It was a small black hexagonal shaped box with odd red marking covering almost the entire container, and it fit in the palm of his hand. He ran a finger over it carefully. "The seam's right in the middle...hinge...a jewelry box?" Curious, he flipped it open.

Inside, he had a brief sight of two round earrings with a ladybug pattern before both began to blaze with red and white energy, surrounding the earrings in a sphere. He let out a startled yelp and slammed the box shut.

"Did you hear that, Soun?"

Hearing his father's voice, Ranma quickly pulled his pack shut so his old man wouldn't find the money pouch and spend it all on booze, grabbed his stuff and the box, and raced out of the dojo and across rooftops as fast as he could go, once again seeking out his quiet spot.

Thankfully, it didn't take long to get there, and there was a shadowy spot he could duck into. Looking around carefully to make sure no one had followed him, he carefully took the box, turned it away from him, closed his eyes, and slowly opened the box once more as he tensed all over in case he had to defend himself.

"...wow, talk about rude!" a tiny, high pitched voice spoke up irritably.

Ranma's eyes shot open, seeking the source of the voice. As he looked, a tiny fairy-like creature that was mostly head floated up out of the jewelry box. Its body was red, with a few black spots on its head with two long, thin antennae hanging down, one on either side. It turned towards Ranma, large blue eyes dominating the face, along with a small mouth that was currently pulled into a frown. "Was that really necessary?" the creature demanded, its femenine voice telling Ranma this was _probably_ a female.

Ranma blinked for a time, then carefully set the jewelry box down on the ground before taking several slow steps back, freezing any time it looked like the creature was going to move towards him. Once he had a safe distance, he sat back and started to think.

* * *

Tikki tilted her head as she watched the girl kneel down and mumble under her breath. She could only catch a few words, and without context they didn't really mean anything. Neko Ken, Memory Mirror, Happosai, Juicy Neko...she thought that's what the last one was, but it could have been misheard.

Tikki had been partnered to many people over her long existence, and the first meeting was _always_ the roughest part. She knew if she could get past this, she'd be able to have a good relationship with her new partner just like always. Of course, the key was getting past it.

In her experience, the first reaction to her appearance generally went one of three ways, which she classified as Fear, Excitement, and Other. If her partner was scared of her at first, some calming words and open friendliness could smooth things over. If they got over-excited at her presence, she would either let them get it out of their systems or move quickly to silence them, depending on how private the situation was.

If they had a more...unusual reaction, such as her new partner was having, she'd found it best to just float quietly and wait until they were ready to engage...while being ready to latch onto them if they tried to run for it without the earrings.

After a time, her prospective partner turned to look at her for a time, then sighed. "Okay, I guess you're probably real and I haven't lost my mind yet," she offered morosely. "I'm not _that_ imaginative."

Tikki blinked, doing her best to stay in the air. While she'd had a few partners who had questioned their sanity at first sight of her, this was the first time one seemed _upset_ to conclude they were still sane. "Uh…" she began, unsure _how_ to respond to that.

"So you're magic," the redheaded girl stated flatly. "And so are the earrings in the box? You connected to them?"

"That's right!" Tikki responded happily, glad to have something that felt like a normal part of this to talk about. "These are the Ladybug Miraculous, and contain immense magical power. And with my help, you can use it to help protect the people you care about, the city, the entire world from evil!"

"I don't need magic to do that," the girl responded flatly. "I haven't trained in martial arts for my entire life for nothing." A frown marred her expression. "And people I care about? ...not a very long list…"

Tikki couldn't stop herself from wincing. That was _not_ the sort of attitude her partners normally had. Still, she rallied. "Oh come on!" she offered playfully. "I'm sure a pretty girl like you must have tons of friends-"

"I'm a _guy!_ "

Tikki blinked as she flew back from that angry declaration. Her eyes went from the girl's angry expression to her rather prominent mammaries, and then back up to her face. "Okay, I guess I can see why you were questioning your sanity," she allowed, "but I'm glad society's gotten accepting of that again if you're willing to shout that."

"...accepting?" the girl asked in confusion.

"Of body and mind not matching!" Tikki offered happily. "Used to be that was just accepted as something that happened, but my past few partners lived in time periods where society was _really_ uptight about that sort of thing and…" She let her voice trail off as an unpleasant memory crossed her mind. "Well-"

"I'm not transgender!" the girl finally managed to gasp out after making a few odd noises while trying to make sense of what Tikki had been saying. "The Dojo was just out of hot water today! Of all the luck…"

A few things clicked in Tikki's mind. "Oh! You have a Jusenkyo curse!" she declared in understanding, zipping around the girl for a bit. "I'd noticed the passive magic on you, but I didn't recognize it! I knew I had to have misheard 'Juicy Neko'. That combination didn't make sense in _any_ language-"

"You know about Jusenkyo?" the girl - well, boy apparently - asked in surprise.

"Well, yeah," Tikki responded immediately. "The Miraculous were originally forged in ancient China. I know a lot about ancient Chinese magic. I don't know much about _curing_ Jusenkyo curses - mostly because every cure that's ever been used has either been unpleasantly permanent or only worked once - but I know a few ways to keep them in check somewhat."

"In...check?"

"Yeah!" Tikki responded readily. "It wouldn't take too much of my magic to help you stay in one form while wearing the Miraculous as long as you go out of your way to avoid too much water, and I might even be able to teach you the technique."

"And suddenly sticking my nose into strange magic is worth it again," the girl/boy stated as she/he sat down. "So how do we use these things, Navi?"

Tikki blinked in confusion. "Uh...my name's Tikki."

"My name's Ranma. Ranma Saotome."

"Pleased to meet you, Ranma!" Tikki greeted happily.

"Now how do I use these things, Navi?"

Tikki's eyes went flat. "I _just_ told you my name was Tikki."

Ranma stared at her. "You've...been in there for a while, haven't you?"

"It's generally a century or two between partners, yeah," Tikki allowed.

"Okay...so how do I use them?"

"Well, first you wear them like earrings-"

"Oh hell no!" Ranma snapped. "How am I supposed to go around wearing earrings as a _guy_? How am I supposed to explain getting my ears pierced? That's just asking for trouble, and I don't need it!"

Tikki blinked for a time. She knew of _a_ solution to this, and Ranma certainly had the energy to do it...but she wasn't entirely sure she _should_ share it. Would it be betraying the partner she learned the skill from, when it was something kept so secret? "Well...I really shouldn't, but...I think I know a technique you _could_ use to hide them...but you can't let anyone know you learned it! Especially if you ever go to China, and near the Bynakala Mountains or Jusenkyo again."

Ranma blinked in surprise. "A Joketsuzoku technique? Like the Chestnut Fist and Hiryu Shoten Ha I learned from Shampoo's great-grandmother?"

Tikki's eyes widened in surprise. "An elder taught you their secret techniques?" she gasped. "Well, in that case I can definitely teach you! But first, let's get them in!" Flying up to Ranma's ears, she poked each earlobe lightly, painlessly creating the hole for the earrings to go in. "I'll make sure you don't injure yourself putting them on," she promised.

Nodding, Ranma carefully lifted the earrings up, expertly inserting them into his ears. "I have good body sense," he explained readily.

"Now, are you used to touching your ki?" she asked curiously.

In response, Ranma flared his battle aura, the blue flame-like energy blazing around him.

Tikki whistled in appreciation. "Alright, now I want you to wrap two small loops of ki around the earrings...and then invert the loops. Does that make-" Her words stopped as she saw the earrings vanish instantly. "You already know the hidden weapons techniques?"

"I thought it was Pop's Umisenken technique, actually," Ranma observed. "Wow. The...the earrings are anchoring it for me."

"Well the Ladybug Miraculous has the power of Good Luck," Tikki explained. "They try to be helpful."

"Well that's useful," Ranma replied, a smile finally touching his face. "So...what's your role here, other than spouting exposition?"

Tikki giggled softly. "Well, my magic enables the Miraculous to give you its power, which you can use to fight off evil. I can also answer any questions you have about things. Other than that, I'm just here to help you through all this...as a friend."

"A...friend?" Ranma asked in surprise, his eyes...quivering.

Tikki felt her heart sink as she realized what that meant. Floating up, she rested on Ranma's shoulder. "Sounds like that's what you need most of this…"


	3. Chapter 3

Ryoga sighed as he once more found himself in the middle of nowhere, wondering how he could have possibly wound up there. He was _pretty_ certain he was still in Japan, as he didn't remember crossing any oceans and he wasn't in his cursed form. Then again, he _might_ have hitchhiked and fallen asleep again. One time doing that he'd wound up in Paris somehow, and walked the full length of Eurasia to get back to Japan while trying to find his way to the Eiffel Tower just to say he'd been. He _really_ needed a travelling companion with a functional direction sense if he was going to track down Ranma for the next rematch before he turned 20...if not 30.

"Damn that Ranma…" he growled under his breath as he decided to stop by a deep lake that seemed untouched by man. "This is all his fault!" Truthfully, he couldn't actually pinpoint exactly _why_ this particular situation was Ranma's fault, but he rarely let that get in the way of pinning the blame on the young Saotome. It was _always_ Ranma's fault.

He paused as he reached into his bag for food and found something unfamiliar. This wasn't anything new to him, as he frequently found he'd grabbed souvenirs from places he didn't remember being, only for the souvenir in question to bring back the memories. He carefully pulled it out. In his hand was a hexagonal black box covered by crimson runic designs he didn't recognize.

"...I didn't manage to snag something cursed, did I?" he groaned worriedly as he looked at the box. "I _really_ don't need another curse on top of the one I've already got." He started to throw the box away, but paused. "Then again, it might not be cursed...and if it's jewelry, maybe I could give it to Akane? Then she might like me as more than a friend!" He eagerly opened the box, only to sigh in disappointment. Inside was a black ring with a green cat paw design on the front, sitting on a red cushion. "No, I can't give her this, it's a man's ring, not one for a lady-"

A sphere of green and white light erupted slowly out of the ring.

"IT IS CURSED!" Ryoga screamed in terror as he flung the box from him and into the lake. The sphere of light, however, floated out of the box towards him before blazing brighter...and then solidifying into a tiny black cat-like fairy that opened bright green eyes to stare at him. "Don't eat me!" Ryoga screamed out in terror as he backed away rapidly.

The fairy blinked at him for a time. "Okay...that's a new one," he grumbled, his voice quite masculine despite the tiny size. He stretched out and gave a loud yawn before smacking his lips. "I'm not going to eat you," he said flatly. "I'm nowhere near big enough. I mean, given size if anyone should be worried about getting eaten it's me, but I'm not-"

"You're the blatantly magical creature that came out of the cursed ring!" Ryoga gasped out. "For all I know, you're going to expand into a giant panther, hunt me down, and turn me into pork chops!"

The cat fairy blinked at him repeatedly. "...great, I got the crazy again," he grumbled to himself. He then shuddered and crossed his tiny arms and glanced away, a bad memory briefly returning. "So, got anything to eat?" he asked curiously. "Not you, but maybe some cheese? Probably a bit much to ask for Camembert in the middle of the forest-"

"Third row of pockets on the pack from the top, left side, second pouch, in the sealed bag under the Belgian chocolates and next to the tiny stuffed bunny," Ryoga responded immediately. "It's all I got though."

Curious, the cat-fairy flowed into the pouch described, pushing aside the other items to pull out the container. "Wow!" he declared happily. "You've got two whole pounds here! I think you and I are going to get along _just_ fine!" He began attempting to tear at the package.

Ryoga sighed in relief. "Well, that's something at-"

"I was talking to the cheese," the cat-fairy interrupted. "But if you get this open for me, I guess you're cool."

Ryoga quickly got the package open, breaking off a piece of cheese about the size of the cat-fairy before sealing it back up.

"You even know my portion size!" the cat-fairy purred happily as he zoomed up like liquid shadow and wrapped his tiny limbs around the cheese. "Oh...come to Plagg, my sweet, succulent, sensual delight…" He began to now on the rather stinky cheese, looking almost as though he were having an orgasmic experience.

"So you're...Plagg?" Ryoga clarified. "I'm...Ryoga Hibiki. Why were you in the cursed ring?"

"The Black Cat Miraculous isn't cursed," Plagg corrected irritably. "It's part of a set of magical items called the Miraculous which contain _immense_ magical power, meant to protect the world from evil, chaos, and overall bad stuff. Ones chosen by the Miraculous are supposed to use the power - with the help of Kwamis like yours truly - to protect the world and be heroes. All that good stuff, like Camembert."

"Oh…" Ryoga frowned thoughtfully. "So...I shouldn't have tossed it into the lake, then?"

Plagg choked on a bite of his cheese. "You _what_?" he yowled out in fury. "Why would you do that?"

"I opened the box and it blazed with light and energy!" Ryoga shouted back defensively. "I thought it was going to explode on me!"

"Well it didn't do that, now did it?" Plagg snapped back. "We need to get it back, quick! Losing a Miraculous is a _very bad_ thing! The world could come to an end if it falls into the wrong hands...or worse!"

"Right!" Ryoga responded eagerly. Turning he raced off away from the lake.

Plagg flew up and seized Ryoga's ear, hauling back on it to make him stop. "Where are you going?" he demanded.

"To get the ring!" Ryoga explained. "I threw it in the lake!"

"You mean the lake back the _other_ way?" Plagg informed waspishly. "Either you've got the world's _worst_ sense of direction, or you mean some _other_ lake-"

"The former," Ryoga allowed sadly.

"...right," Plagg groaned as he flew into Ryoga's hair. Seizing two handfuls, he yanked on one until Ryoga turned and was facing the lake. "Now forward!"

"I can't go into the water!" Ryoga complained as he moved forward at Plagg's physical urging. "It's cold! I can't swim well as a pig!"

"How you view women has _nothing_ to do with your swimming ability!" Plagg groused as he flew out of Ryoga's hair and slammed into the small of his back. "Get that ring!"

Ryoga let out a startled yelp. "That's not what I-" he started to scream, only to be cut off by a massive splash as he fell into the lake.

"Then what did you-" Plagg started to scream.

"Bweeee!"

Plagg stared at the tiny black piglet struggling to stay afloat on the water's surface, Ryoga's bandana around its neck. Groaning, he flew down and lifted Ryoga out of the water by the bandana. "You should have told me you had a Jusenkyo curse," he groused. Opening the pack, he dropped Ryoga into it. "Stay put!" he ordered before diving into the lake.

Ryoga stayed where he was in the pack, not wanting to anger the cat-fairy that could carry so much...especially not if he knew something about Jusenkyo and could maybe help him cure his curse! Then he could finally get his revenge against Ranma!

After a time, Plagg came up out of the lake carrying the box. "You are damn lucky," he grumbled angrily as he dropped the box, it flipping open to reveal the ring. "It's still in the box. If it had fallen out, I might have _never_ found it, and it could have been lost forever. Sheesh…" He lifted Ryoga back out of the pack and dropped him before phasing through him.

"Bweee-EAHGH!" Ryoga screamed out as he seemed to spark before turning back into a human...though naked. "That is _not_ a pleasant-how'd you do that?" He stared at himself, marveling at how he had changed back without application of hot water.

"The Black Cat Miraculous is the power of Destruction," Plagg explained as he went back to his cheese. "Break a few water molecules, it releases a bunch of heat into the rest, and cold water turns hot with a little extra gas. Easy peasy. Heck, you might even learn to do it."

Ryoga swiftly pulled a spare change of clothes out of his pack and began to get dressed. "Destruction?" he asked in surprise. "How does that work?"

"Well, with the Miraculous it's the power of Cataclysm," Plagg explained. "Black energy that makes any material you touch break down and crumble as the molecular bonds are attacked by magical energy. Useful, but dangerous."

"Sounds a bit like the Bakusai Tenketsu," Ryoga observed as he pulled his new shirt on, which was identical to the old one save it wasn't slowly sinking to the bottom of a lake. "But that only works on rock."

"Same technique, but using magic to amplify and control the destruction," Plagg confirmed. "If you know the ki technique, you might even be able to do more with it."

"So it works on more than just rock?" Ryoga asked eagerly. "Like metal? And wood? Does it work on fle-"

 _SMACK!_

Ryoga stared in shock, his hand going to his cheek where Plagg had slapped him without warning, hard enough to leave three claw grooves in his cheek and make his entire face redden. Plagg's eyes were narrowed to dangerous slits, unholy fury within them.

"Word of advice…" he hissed out in fury. "Don't even _think_ about that last one... _ever!_ Keep that in mind, we'll get along just fine. Got it?"

Ryoga nodded quickly, once more terrified.

Plagg sighed as he seemed to deflate from the rage. "Just...just put the ring on," he grumbled as he floated away. "I'm...I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me if you encounter a monster or something."

"Only if I can't handle it myself," Ryoga promised as he slipped the ring on, desperate to get back on Plagg's good side.

Plagg sighed. "Look, just…" He shook his head. "The answer to your last question is yes, but there's a reason it's a sore spot with me...and it isn't your fault. Just…" He stared off into space, curling up around himself. "...we'll talk later." With that, he swept himself into Ryoga's pack, curling up to nap.

Ryoga sighed as he stared down at the ring. "What have I gotten myself into?" he moaned as he hefted the pack to his shoulders, deciding he needed to find somewhere else to set up camp for the night. _Ranma, I know somehow this is all your fault!_ he thought firmly as he turned decisively to walk away from the lake and-

 _Splash!_

"Bweee!"

"Oh, COME ON!"


	4. Chapter 4

Tikki waited calmly, resting her face against Ranma's cheek as he simply let the realization of Tikki's role - a friend - sink in. She wasn't normally paired with the lonely ones when she and Plagg were paired with heroes; Plagg was usually a better match with the loners. However, Ranma didn't seem like the loner type. With how cautious he'd been without actually being afraid, this felt more like someone who desperately wanted friends, but for some reason felt like he couldn't trust anyone. She'd have to see what she could do to help Ranma through that. After all, helping him be emotionally stable could only help him using the Miraculous...and keep him from any temptation of misusing it.

Looking up, she noticed that he was keeping his eyes closed, but no tears were falling. That didn't seem normal. "You can cry if you want," she whispered softly, brushing his cheek with her relatively tiny hand. "I won't judge."

"But...guys don't cry..." he mumbled quietly, trying to steady himself as if the words would help him.

Tikki suppressed the frown that tried to cross her face. _Great,_ she thought to herself. _Toxic masculinity. As if he didn't have enough gender identity issues with his curse._ Taking a deep breath, she decided to take a different approach to that. "Why not?" she asked curiously.

"Because it's a sign of weakness," Ranma answered readily as if reciting something that had been beaten into him until he knew it by rote.

Seeing the way he shifted as he tried to steel himself as though fearing backlash without admitting fear, 'beaten' was probably accurate. _Then again, he said he's been training in the martial arts his entire life,_ Tikki mused in her mind. _I wonder how much of that 'training' involved learning to take or avoid physical punishment._ "Who says it's a sign of weakness?" she asked curiously.

"My old man," Ranma responded readily, distaste and irritation in his voice, though his tone remained somewhat respectful.

"Does he not cry?" the kwami asked curiously, hoping she was on the right track.

Ranma chuckled softly. "No, he cries all the time. Any time he thinks I'm not being 'manly' enough, or when he's bemoaning what he's 'sacrificed' to train me and make me a 'man among men'...or any time _his_ Master is around..."

"So he's weak, then?" Tikki asked impishly, trying not to giggle.

Ranma frowned. "...no. Pop's got a lot of flaws, but he's not weak...except maybe of character..."

"Then what does his crying signify, if not weakness?"

"Mostly when he's trying to manipulate someone or wheedle out of something," Ranma grumbled irritably. "Usually by dumping responsibility on me."

"It doesn't sound like you like or respect your father very much, except for his fighting skills," Tikki pointed out thoughtfully.

Ranma hesitated, frowning. "Well...he _is_ my old man, and..."

"And you're supposed to honor and respect your parents," Tikki finished for him. "That's part of being a good, honorable man. But honoring and respecting them doesn't mean raising them higher than they are...does it?"

Ranma turned to her, tilting his head in confusion. "I don't think I could raise Pops that high, anyway. He's pretty heavy."

Tikki smacked her tiny palms between her eyes. "I don't mean it literally..." Seeing Ranma was only _more_ confused by that, she sighed. "Look, I don't know you and how you relate to your father. We just met, and I haven't seen him yet. But I'm going to look out for you and help you as best I can. I'm not going to try and change you or your life to fix things...but if I think doing something different might help you, I'll let you know. And if you aren't sure about something, you can ask me and I'll answer as best I can." She flitted over to his other shoulder. "I've been around since Ancient Egypt, so I have plenty of experience you can draw on."

Ranma managed a smile. "Thanks," he offered warmly as he wiped at his eyes, getting control of himself. He then smirked a bit teasingly. "Maybe you could help me with my history homework?"

"Only if you mean helping you find the answers," Tikki teased back. "I'm not here to solve your problems for you, remember?" She floated back with a wide smile as that got a laugh out of him.

When he stopped laughing, he got a bit more serious. "So...you said you could help me keep from changing form so often?" he asked curiously. "How's that work?"

Tikki settled herself down on the box the Miraculous had been in. "The Ladybug Miraculous is the power of Good Luck and Creation, which involves stabilizing energies. A Jusenkyo curse is based in unstable mystic reactions, which causes the form shift in response to water temperature. If I tune the energies of the Miraculous just right, it can act as a block for the reaction, preventing it from triggering unless it's overwhelmed by too much water at once."

"So, if I get splashed accidentally you could stop me from changing form, but if I go walking in the rain, tough luck?" he parsed thoughtfully.

"As long as the Miraculous is passive, yes," Tikki clarified. "When it's active, the stabilizing energies environmental protections that give you a certain level of safety in your environment based on how the energy is shaped, as well as generating a field that absorbs a good amount of incoming kinetic energy to prevent bad injuries while fighting."

Ranma nodded as he listened carefully to her explanation. "Okay...but you said something about how I could learn the technique?"

Tikki smiled as she flitted over to hover next to Ranma's ear, where the Miraculous remained invisible. "It'll take a while for you to adjust your ki to act as a magical catalyst, and until then the protections will be running on my energies, which are limited when the Miraculous is in passive mode. Once you learn to do so, however, you can activate the technique through the Miraculous with your own energy, which should work much better as you'll have a lot more to draw on." She hovered over to where he could see her more clearly. "While inside the Miraculous I can generate a lot of magic from the way it's constructed to work with me, outside I've only got however much I can hold in my body...which is pretty tiny!" She giggled as she flipped around a bit to show off how small she was.

Ranma rubbed his chin as he looked her over. "Okay...so now what?" he asked curiously.

Tikki smiled. "For now, I think you should head back home. Don't mention me or any of this to anyone, though. The Miraculous has great power, and will be a temptation for those with dark motives. You don't want someone trying to take advantage of it, do you?"

"And how am I going to hide you?" Ranma asked, spreading his hands wide. "It's not like I have many hiding places."

Tikki tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, you're going to school, so I could hide in your book bag most of the time. As for the rest..." She floated over to his ear again. "Let's see...ah! Very tight loops, you're quite good at this." She tugged lightly on his ki, and slipped into the inverted loop that hid the Miraculous, vanishing from sight.

Ranma wriggled awkwardly. "That...not quite tickles, but...it feels odd..."

"Yeah, it's going to," Tikki admitted apologetically, her voice coming from all around Ranma, though quiet enough only he heard. "That's why I'll do it as little as possible. You should probably find some way I can hide on your person at all times, only disappearing me like this in emergencies."

Nodding, Ranma turned back towards the dojo. "Wardrobe modifications. That's going to be fun..."

"Perhaps this will cheer you up?" Tikki offered. She couldn't activate the _full_ power of the Miraculous without merging with it, but for something small...

Reddish-pink light raced through Ranma's aura. When it passed, he was no longer in his cursed form. "How did you-?" he gasped in surprise.

"One of the things the Ladybug Miraculous can do is restore any damage caused during the mystic battles it's involved in," Tikki explained. "This is a much smaller scale version, to shift you out of your cursed form, and not something we can use often...but I thought it might help you adjust."

In his aura as she was, she could feel his smile. "Thanks, Navi!" he offered jokingly.

"It's Tikki!" Tikki snapped back, but without any rancor in her tone. She was actually pleased that he was already making a running joke for them. It made her feel more connected to him, that their friendship was already strong.


End file.
